Want to lighten your hair and bring out highlights in a “natural” way? Want to look like a “California girl” with sun-kissed locks that glisten in the light? Don't fret – the lighter look is easy. Simply mix and match the natural lighteners listed below to achieve your ideal– a head of beautiful, lighter hair!

Steps

Method1

Lemon Juice and Water “Dye”

1

Combine lemon juice and water. Mix one-quarter cup of warm water with one cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice or bottled lemon juice, then add one cup of orange juice and fill a spray bottle with the mixture.

Protect your skin with a layer of sunscreen. You are going to use the power of sunlight to activate the lightening effects of the citric acid, so make sure that your skin is protected from harmful UVA and UVB rays.

4

Apply the lemon lightener to your hair. For full coverage, spray the mixture over all your hair and give it a few light brushes.

Add highlights, if desired. Soak a cotton ball in the lemon and orange mixture and slide it down the strands you want highlighted. Try to keep track of which strands were lightened, because the process takes a while and you'll have to reapply the lightener several times for it to take effect.

If using the lemon conditioner mixture for dry hair, take a pastry brush or similar item and brush the hair you want lightened with the mixture. This mixture will have more body and be slicker than the lemon-orange-water mixture, so it will be harder to get highlights with it.

5

Find a comfortable spot outside in the sun. You will need to sit outside in direct sunlight for at least an hour to an hour and a half to begin seeing any color change.

6

Reapply the lemon juice after 90 minutes. Continue sitting in the sun for another 30 minutes.

7

Give your hair a deep conditioning when you're done lightening. Wash your hair, and then deep-condition with a generous amount of hair conditioner or another natural substance.

8

Give the process time to work. Don't expect to see sudden changes right away.-- lightening with lemon juice takes time! Expect the following color changes in three to four weeks:

Try lightening your hair with Cassia Obovata. Cassia is a plant that contains a faint golden or slight yellow dye. It's known also as "neutral henna" and will give your hair a golden tone.

Spritz on chamomile tea to lighten to your hair. Chamomile tea works best on light brown or blonde hair. Spray it in the same way you would lemon juice or hydrogen peroxide.

Drench with diluted hydrogen peroxide. It may not be "natural", but it certainly works. (Lightening your hair with lemons, even though they are "natural" still causes damage to your hair in much the same way hydrogen peroxide does.)

Try a bit of cinnamon to lighten those locks! Cinnamon works nicely on dark hair and it sure smells better than hydrogen peroxide. Give it a try!

Sweeten that color with a bit of honey. Honey is another good lightening agent. It's natural, doesn't dry your hair like lemon or peroxide and it works!

Combine lemon with honey and cinnamon for an excellent conditioning hair lightener. Follow the above lemon water method, only also add cinnamon and honey to the lemon water.

Does tis only work with highlights or can I actually dye my hair? I wanted to dye the ends of my hair in a cheap way.

wikiHow Contributor

Sadly, no. It just highlights, but if you would like to, you can dye you're hair with Kool-Aid. The (unsweetened) small packets are cheap and it'll stay in for months depending on your hair color and type. See further How to Dye Hair With Kool Aid.

I have honey-colored hair, and I find that lemon juice plus sunlight is most effective. I sometimes use chamomile as a final rinse before getting out of the shower. The coloring effect is more subtle, but it also does wonders for the strength and softness of your hair. There's also a great drugstore product called Sun In. It is affordable and mostly natural (lemon juice etc.) with some preservatives and a splash of hydrogen peroxide added.

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Video

Tips

Make sure you don't swim straight after the process or you hair may turn a green like color.

Be patient! You will need to do this many times to get a big difference.

If you apply the juice to only your natural highlights, you will get streaks. If you deeply saturate your whole head, it will lighten the full color.

You can find the lemons and oranges (which are kind of really necessary) at your supermarket. Once again, they are very cheap, averaging around a dollar (if not less!)

Continue this process on multiple days if you don't have much time the first sitting.

Don't use bottled lemon juice. It isn’t natural and won’t have the same effect.

If you are not a natural blonde (level 6-10) you will turn orange/brassy. Not to mention how drying it is on the hair and the damage from the sun. You're basically frying it. They had this on the market years ago called sun in and it's been gone for years. There's good reason for that. Always seek a professionals advice when it comes to your hair.

For kids and young teens, ask an adult or guardian for help.

Concentrated lemon juice that comes in the plastic lemon-shaped bottle works really well. Don't dilute with water or conditioner. Soak parts of the hair with the concentrated lemon juice, then expose outside (preferably in spring or Autumn as summer sun is just too hot and intense) for a long time. As the hair dries (and it will feel stiff), replenish with more lemon juice. If the hair color is natural blonde, results will be noticeable after one afternoon in the sun. Afterwards, wash and condition like usual. Repeating this whole process over for a month is not necessary for natural blonde hair.

You can find empty spray-bottles at your local drugstore– but don’t worry, they’re very cheap!

Warnings

Do not overuse; if you use more than one lemon a day, it may add a brassy, odd tint to your hair.

Don't do this too often, since the sun can seriously damage your skin over time. Watch out for sunburn, it's easier to prevent a sunburn than treat it.